


but all the rain comes down the same

by grumpyjavert



Category: Original Work
Genre: Disabled Character, Gen, Multi, Multiplicity/Plurality, Nonbinary Character, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-13
Updated: 2015-10-25
Packaged: 2018-03-12 05:24:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3345197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grumpyjavert/pseuds/grumpyjavert
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A heiress, an orphan, and two runaways are running from the army.<br/>Wait. That's wrong. Scratch it.<br/>A recluse, a thief, and an old childhood friend meet after death threats are exchanged.<br/>Still wrong.<br/>A boxer gets into situations with an assassin, a defector, and a murderer.<br/>Closer, possibly.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. you're invincible

**Author's Note:**

> this is just a place to put my little stories for my ocs instead of keeping them in google drive until i can find a way to link them.  
> other characters not introduced yet will appear, and none of it will be linear. i apologize. i thought it was better to at least publish it instead of staring at what i've written and revising it little by little.  
> i'll put warnings before each chapter if it needs it. feel free to ask me to warn for things.
> 
> characters in systems pop up in the fourth chapter onwards so feel free to skip to there

Moema chewed over hir question for a few minutes before airing it.

“Are you injured?”

There was a silence before James replied.

“No?”

The question was barely audible, but sie heard it.

“Your walk is different.”

Moema heard the rustle of fabric as he crossed his arms. Sie sighed. It was to be this again, it seemed.

“It’s nothing.”

Moema held hir tongue against the immediate replies that rushed forward, and let him continue walking that slightly changed way.

*

“Oh my god.”

James shifted, a frown audible in his voice.

“What? I’m fine.”

“You broke your ankle, and tried to hide it?”

He was pouting, wasn’t he?

“I didn’t break it!”

Yes, he was pouting.

“What do you call it then?”

“A bruise!” Moema sighed.

James bristled. “It’s a bruise, that’s it. I’m gonna actually do something useful now, unlike some people.”

Sie ignored the dig, and stepped in front of him, blocking his way.

“Sit down.” If James were any younger, he’d be scowling and complaining like a spoiled child. As it was, he merely muttered a few uncomplimentary things and sat down. He knew how to pick his battles, at any rate.

Moema took out hir phone and unlocked it.

“Call Foster.”

“Calling Foster.” Hir phone replied.

Moema heard James’ shoes squeaking on the floor and the shifting of the chair as he collapsed back onto it.

“I can’t believe you’re calling that idiot down here!”

“Tone down the ableism, if you will. Ve is the best doctor we have right now.” James huffed, but didn’t say anything.

A click sounded as ve picked up.

“H-hello?” Foster’s timid voice was heard.

“Foster, your favorite patient managed to mess himself up again. We’re in 2B.”

“O-oh dear. I’ll be ri-right there.” Moema waited a few seconds to make sure ve hung up, then locked hir phone again.

A silent one-sided standoff occurred, in which James glared at Moema, and sie ignored him.

Foster entered a few minutes later, but, to vis credit, only hesitated a few seconds before interrupting.

“M-moema?”

“He broke his ankle.”

James clearly thought that silence was the best way to brave the storm, as he didn’t contribute.

Foster pawed through vis bag and came up with items for a splint. While ve was working on James’ leg, ve outlined instructions.

“Don’t put w-weight on it. It’ll be a w-while before we can see a r-real doctor, if ever. Don’t make it worse.” Foster was trying hard to sound intimidating, but couldn’t come close. Vis voice was still soft, as if approaching a small animal, and ve had to speak slowly to avoid stuttering.

Silence on James’ end.

Foster finished and turned to Moema.

“I’m going to g-get back to Ta-Tavon.”

Ve didn’t remind hir to take care of James, as ve knew sie was capable. Moema liked vem a bit more for that. Sie waved as ve left the room.

“James.”

Nothing.

“James, I know you’re sulking.”

“Shut up.” he mumbled.

“Ah, there we are.” A smile, and the rustling of cloth as James scooted back away from hir. Moema knew sie looked like fierce, like a feral panther. It was terrifying, and exactly what sie was going for.

"Come on. Time to start your confinement."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i did a few google searches on broken ankles aka i don't know anything  
> please point out inaccuracies
> 
> Moema is a metizo, with Tupi ancestors. Sie's blind and a demigirl.  
> James is mixed, with a black mother and mixed father (latin@ and white). He's bigender. He's from France.  
> Foster is Dutch, and his stutter is based off of mine, but I don't stutter all the time. Ve is a demiboy.  
> i'm white, i can see, and i'm agender, so please tell me if i messed up anything.  
> work title from spring and a storm by tally hall  
> 


	2. we're all just fucked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> amari is too nice for zir own good, rachael needs to invest in super glue to keep eli's feet on the floor, and eli needs to stops switching between personas so quick, seriously, you're freaking out your neighbor.

Amari meets zir new neighbors on a Sunday. Well- ze meets one of them, and sees the other’s jacket as they disappear. Ze tilts zir head and squints, wondering if all new arrivals would be this elusive. A flash of dark hair, and the other disappears. Not much of a meeting then.

*

Later that week, Amari hears screaming from the apartment next to zirs.

*

Understandably, ze is a bit tense when ze sees them next. The person on the right chatters away cheerfully as the other nods and looks like they’re calculating the odds of mass human extinction. With the same grim expression, they look up and see zir. They elbow the other in the side, a casual gesture Amari wasn’t expecting from them. A silence ensues, wherein they simply stare at each other. Amari breaks the silence a bit desperately.

“I’m Amari. It’s quite nice to meet you.”

Surprisingly, the blank one replies. “Rachael.” They nod at the person next to them. “Eli.”

Another brief silence descends. Amari wouldn’t normally do this so soon without getting an idea first of how they feel towards it, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

“Pronouns?”

That gets a visible reaction, Rachael blinking in what looks like shock and Eli grinning up at them. They lean in and whisper something that sounds like “Told you so.”

Rachael points to themself and replies. “I use xe/xyr/xem pronouns. Eli uses he/him. You?”

Amari smiles. This is going much, much better than expected.

“Ze/zir.” Rachael nods, and Eli looks about ready to burst with joy, bouncing from foot to foot.

Amari suddenly realizes that they are standing in the middle of the hallway, and anyone could come out at any time.

“Would you like to come in and have a drink?”

Eli frowns. “We don’t drink.”

Amari laughs. “Neither do I. I meant tea.”

Rachael looks at Eli, and they both shake their heads.

“Sorry, Amari, we have to go to the store. If we wait any longer, I’ll forget, and that never turns out well.” Eli replies, holding his hand out palm-up to Rachael. Xe takes it without looking, like this is commonplace.

Eli flashes a smile at xem, and Rachael faces him and smiles back, just gently. Quietly, like xe’s not used to it.

They turn and begin to walk away, but Eli tugs gently on xyr hand. Rachael stops, and Eli looks over his shoulder.

“It was nice meeting you!” he shouts, as if they are not six feet away from each other.

Amari winces, but smiles anyway.

*

“No, no, Mother, I- Mother!” Amari sighs and shifts zir weight from foot to foot.

Ze listens to zir mother speak for a few seconds before interrupting.

“I’ll make it work.”

A few more seconds, and suddenly Amari stiffens.

Zir phone drops to the floor with a clatter, and ze runs for the door. There’s screaming from the door over, again, why is it again?

Ze yanks the door open, and almost slams into Eli in zir haste. He backs up, and holds his hands up.

“Whoa there. Where’re you going this fast?”

Amari nearly laughs in disbelief, but pauses.

No screaming.

Ze shakes zir head and looks at him again.

Fluffy lavender hair sticking up, check. Ugly printed hoodie, check. Rachael, nowhere.

“Where’s Rachael?”

Eli laughs. “Busy.”

Amari narrows zir eyes. It sounds plausible, with the levity in his voice, but. There was a second of terror in his eyes that ze didn’t miss.

Ze accepts it for now, nods while Eli makes light conversation, and waves as he walks back to his and Rachael’s shared apartment. It’s not until the click of the door closing finishes echoing through the hallway that Amari realizes Eli never said why he was there.

*

Amari sees them next in the lobby, recognizable only by the eye-searing colors of Rachael’s sweater. Ze has no doubt that Eli bought that for xem. They’re predictable and easy to deduce, even after just a few meetings.

Eli gestures widely, voice still a low murmur despite his obvious agitation. Ze finds zirself thinking of how hoarse someone would have to be after screaming that much, and shivers. Maybe not that predictable.

Amari steps where ze knows they’ll spot zir, and sees Eli’s eyes light up as he excuses himself from the conversation and excitedly points zir out to Rachael. Rachael tilts xyr head in greeting, and Amari smiles, glad to see xem safe. Xe’s different than Eli, in more than the obvious, but that doesn’t equal bad.

“Hi again, Amari!” Eli greets zir, previous mood all but vanished.

“Hello.” Rachael seems a bit wary, body language guarded, ze unconsciously notes.

“Sorry to ask, but what was that about?” Amari looks at the still fuming landlord, practically stomping away.

Eli looks over his shoulder at the man and grimaces, expression dark.

“A disagreement.” Amari actually straightens up, the command in his voice unmistakable. Just who was this boy? Ze’s only heard things like that from.

Oh dear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've never lived in an apartment building in my life. i have no clue how they work, sorry.  
> amari's a demigirl, and a muslim. ze is honestly one of my faves but she doesn't feature heavily at first in my story, sadly. ze's black.  
> rachael's agender and has a super mysterious past bc i'm a huge loser and haven't written it all the way yet. xe's a native latinx.  
> eli's a trans guy. he's hispanic and a pacific islander.  
> rachael and eli are in a qpp, which stands for queer platonic partnership. eli's aro and demisexual and rachael's ace and greyromantic  
> eli's deaf but uses hearing aids. he doesn't particularly like them but it's necessary sometimes. he prefers to use sign language and that's what he primarily uses with rachael.  
> later on amari learns some sign language and practices it with both of them. rough start but they all eventually become really good friends. amari doesn't push about eli's past and eli doesn't tell. i might write this? i don't know yet. i have more scenes written of eli/rachael though than i'd like to admit.
> 
> previous chapter title from invincible from ok go because i love messing with james.
> 
> this chapter's title comes from 27 from fall out boy


	3. i know i'll stay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James is a huge mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wrote this at five am and i can't tell if there are errors, i'm sorry.

James grimaces, smacking the alarm before it can wake Trey up. Ne untangles from him and reviews nir morning routine: coffee, banana, shower, Trey- no. 

James leaves the room before ne can disturb Trey, settling on watching the coffee begin. 

A few minutes pass, and ne can feel someone watching nem- ne's almost positive it's not the ghosts of nir past, no matter what Moema says. 

James turns to see the outline of Trey rubbing his eyes in bed. Christ. Ne kinda wants to cry, because even when he's not trying, he's still regal. Smudgy lines, bleary face, hair as stuck up as him and all. 

Trey slips out of bed, dragging the comforter behind him. James knows that if it were dawn, the sky bleeding as a sacrifice, the golden light shining through the window- well. Ne knows ne would see a crown on this boy. This fucking boy that is too much- too much of everything. Too kingly, too bright, too- Trey leans sleepily against nem, almost falling over. 

James snorts. "Hey, Drowsy. Going somewhere?" 

Trey mumbles something. 

"What was that?" 

He looks up and scowls, squinting. "You're laughing at me." 

James smothers nir grin. "I've gotta go to work." 

Trey sighs and says nothing. "Go to bed, Sleeping Beauty." 

He murmurs something else that sounds affectionate and heads back towards the bed. 

Oh god. He's gotta leave. He's gotta go now before he says something back.

*

He's twenty minutes early for work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> james uses he/him and ne/nir/nem, but generally only the latter when ne's comfortable and actually tells people to use them. usually people assume he/him, which is what ne told them to do.  
> trey's a trans boy and is filipino
> 
> chapter title from sun by two door cinema club
> 
> it really seems like james is my fav but he's not i just like this french trash sometimes-boy.  
> my favs are mariah, aila, davice, moema, morgan, rachael, and essa tbh but i haven't posted anything yet w them other than moema and rachael.


	4. start of conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Essa is sometimes considerate, but other times. Well. Cats are important.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> double update because i wrote this all in one go on my phone. i also wrote something else that i will upload later, because it doesn't have a common character and because I need something in reserve to at least try to keep this decently updated.
> 
> i messed with this chapter and corrected some errors.

"What the fuck is this, to be perfectly honest?"

Essa laughed, and grabbed his hand, trying to pull him along with them. Green planted his feet in the ground. 

"Es, I need an explanation."

"You'll get one, stop pouting!"

"If you want to see Imani, there are easier ways!"

"Shush up, Green. Believe me, you're the only grump I need to see right now. Oh, hi, Carla!"

"Hey, Essa. Where're you taking him?" 

"Secret. I'll have your brother in one piece, promise!"

"Tell Amelia I said hi!" Carla shouted as Essa dragged Green past her, and Essa gave her a salute in answer. Green, mostly resigned to his fate, put up with being pulled around with minimal grumbling. Essa finally stopped on top of a nearby hill, dropping his hand and twirling around with a flourish. 

"Tada!" 

"Oh, yes. Dirt and grass. My favorite." 

"No, just. Sit down." Green huffed, but acquiesced. Essa started picking flowers, weaving them together. Green watched for a few minutes before sighing and laying down to face the clouds. No matter how much he complains, Essa wouldn't have brought them here without a reason. Might as well enjoy it while he can. 

* 

"Green." Someone started shaking him. He scrunched his nose and turned away.

"Green." The voice was amused, not angry, so he turned over and opened his eyes. 

"There we are." Essa sat back with a grin and watched him try to wake the rest of the way up. 

"How long was I out?" He asked them with a yawn. 

"Long enough for me to make this!" They lifted up flowers from the ground, wound together in what looked suspiciously like- 

"Es, no." Green leaned away.

"It's not for you. It's for Imani." He crossed his arms and looked away from them. 

"The nap and peace was for you, because you never get enough of either." Green huffed again, still and mostly silent. A few more seconds, and she turned, looking at them with wide eyes. 

"Hi, Imani!"

"Hi, Essa! Are these daisies?" She lifted the crown, putting it on her head. 

"Yeah, I we- remem- wemembered- that word- that these were your favorites."

"And you did this for us?" 

"'Course!" 

Imani smiled, playing with the ends of her hair. "Thank you. Green'll never admit it, but he's grateful."

"He doesn't half- have to. I wnow- ugh. Know."

"We don't have to talk." Imani said abruptly, watching them cover their mouth. "We can go back." Essa crinkled their nose, shaking their head. 

"The daiwies- daisies- mean patence- no? Pa-shee-ence. Good match. Ugh, words." 

Imani stood, knowing better than to offer them a hand. Essa got up as well and started swiping themself down. 

"S-ssorry." They looked away from her, grimacing. 

"Don't worry. Next time plan with you in the equation too." Imani started walking, carefully focused on Essa's hands for a reply.

'How'd you get so smart, kid.' they signed, focusing on the ground so they wouldn't trip. 

"Trash television and self care blogs." Essa huffed a laugh, and was quiet for the remaining walk, only nodding when Imani suggested a movie marathon later that week. 

"Bye, Amelia." Imani stopped them at the door and waved. Amelia shot her a grateful look, and stepped inside.

-

"God damn, how do you even acquire this much shit." Nick drops the box as soon as ae steps inside, surveying the room. "And- more cats? Essa, please. Stop taking in strays," Ae groans, lacing aer fingers together and bringing them above aer head, stretching out with a few pops. "I've only been gone a couple weeks!"

Essa peeks around the corner, a gray tabby in their arms. "I've drowned my sorrows in cats, and it seems my heart has been taken by poor Chester here."

Nick holds up a hand, already laughing. "Wait. Chester?"

Essa sniffs, turning their back on aem. 

"A perfectly respectable name."

"Yeah, for a comedian, maybe."

Essa looks down at Chester, face painted with fake shock. 

"Oh, oh no!" They begin in a falsetto. "I never truly knew you at all! Our marriage is in shambles. How can I face myself in the mirror now?" 

"Maybe with a memory wipe."

"Shush up, you. You're ruining a dramatic moment." They bend down next to the nearest stack of boxes and put their arms close to the top of a sturdy one. Chester climbs out, and a ginger cat comes close to Essa's face, already purring. It bumps its head into theirs, and Essa pets it with a goofy smile. Nick watches them and sighs. 

"Don't bring in any more strays? I'm still allergic, you know." Essa shrugs it off. 

"You have allergy pills, you're fine." Ae drops to the ground, and starts petting the cat that immediately climbs into aer lap. It's not like it's a bad allergy. Nick doesn't even live here, ae can put up with some small sniffles. 

(Ae doesn't live here- but only technically.)

Essa finds the cats good homes with their friends, except for two. Nick groans when ae finds out which. 

"Chester and Jessica? Really?"

"Chaz and Jazz!"

"Noooo."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i got really tired of seeing people in systems being written by singlets lmao. im part of a system, though mines closer to median than completely separate. theres more people than just two in both of their systems, but green and essa are the hosts. carla doesnt know that theres more people than just essa and amelia yet. 
> 
> essas word difficulty/stuttering is based off of me and my own experiences.
> 
> essas mixed and has to check practically every box on that portion of forms. they don't care about gender. 
> 
> amelia is agender and goes by they/them. they don't speak verbally, and use sign language. 
> 
> nicks indian and is in a qp with essa, though they don't call it that. nick is a demiboy.
> 
> green is agender but goes by he/him and generally appears masculine. 
> 
> imanis a trans girl.
> 
> sorry for any typos, i glanced over it but im on my phone for both editing and uploading.
> 
> i also messed around with the previous chapters a little bit.
> 
> my tumblrs demicourf.tumblr.com if you want to ask me anything or just say hi.


	5. how many shrimps do you have to eat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James is only in it for mocking privileges, really, Essa, promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings for food maybe?

Isidor crosses his arms and looks away from James. 

“Don’t wanna.” His voice is petulant, and James almost smiles, before realizing what that would look like to him.

“Come on, bud. I know it’s awful, but we gotta.” James crouches down and sits on the floor carefully, shuddering at the cold tile. If it wasn’t Isidor, James would complain about kid duty. He’s definitely gonna complain about the floor though.

“You’re just sayin’ it ‘cus Essa told you to.” Isidor scrunches up his nose and scowls, tugging on his hair.

“Yeah, you’re not listening to them.”

“They’re talky. All the time. I want out more.”

“That’s sorta their job. You can front more, no one’s stopping ya.”

“No! People look at me different ‘cus of my voice. Is not Essa’s, they think somethin’s wrong.”

“Screw them, you’re fine. Come out as often as you like, I’ll be here.”

Isidor sticks his tongue out and walks towards the kitchen, tapping the surfaces he can reach. “No you won’t. You’re-” A brief pause, and Isidor’s face lights up. “Kissin’ your boyfriend!”

James sticks his tongue out now in a mimicry of Isidor. What the hell happened to shielding little kids?

“Ew.” Isidor’s face takes on a disgusted expression again. “Don’t do it.”

James laughs and stands up, backing up so he won’t crowd the kid.

“I’ll be here, don’t cha worry. We still gotta do it though.”

Isidor whines and scrubs at his eyes.

“What? You know we do.” James brushes past them, opening the freezer. If he’s gonna continue this conversation, it’s gonna be with chocolate.

“He’s cofronting! He doesn’t want to do it on his own but he can’t leave.” Essa starts bouncing, chewing on their nails.

“He has his priorities in order.” James comments, leaning on the fridge.

Essa shoots him such a look of betrayal that he starts laughing. They find it only fitting that he almost chokes on his fudge bar after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the chapter title is from flamingo by kero kero bonito because it's a song that reminds me of suzie, who's the little in our system.
> 
> the people in essa’s system are essa themself, the host, amelia, a protector/trauma holder, rennie, a protector who mainly cofronts, and isidor, a little. there's more potentially, because systems can fluctuate. the thing that isidor doesn’t want to do is meet the others he hasn’t yet. essa asked for james' help bc isidor likes him.
> 
> the pause was isidor trying to remember what essa said as a joke to others to basically hand-wave away why james wasn't there. then the disgust was him actually remembering what that meant. suzie and i do that a lot with her trying to remember a concept or word and going through my memories for it or me giving it to her bc we're cocon or cofronting.
> 
> isidor is talking about pitch change, dropping of g's and abrupt sentences or just that 'little kid voice' when he mentions how his voice isn't like essa's. i'm basing this off of my own system, but everyone's is different. there's a couple of age-sliders in my system, and both wren and marcy can go anywhere from 4-16. so i can potentially have 3 littles in my system at once. we don't change pitch a lot, but we do have that kid voice? if you spend a lot of time around talkative kids i think you'll get what i mean.
> 
> sorry for the over-sharing but this is rlly self-indulgent anyway.
> 
> isidor is a boy. sometimes. you think he has time to figure this out?
> 
> rennie is a demiboy and mostly nonverbal except for emergencies. he/they pronouns.
> 
> i keep writing essa because i really want to talk about my system and find representation so i'm making it myself.
> 
> again posting really late, sorry.
> 
> if you have any questions either ask in a review or ask me at my tumblr (demicourf.tumblr.com), where you'll probably get a quicker reply.


	6. brambles and ice

Rosaline feels reckless. Nothing is real, their head is full of vines of twisting, confusing thoughts, and everything has a gauze separating them from it.

Fuck it. Xe is killing time, but many things die everyday.

Others don't matter. This is the "dangerous" attitude people are scared of. Xe bares xer teeth, too many of them, all sharp, fangs. The normal.

“Essa?” Wrong.

Xe can hear Nick sidling closer. 

‘It's not sidling!’ Essa protests. ‘Ae’s concerned for us. Ae’s only seen you front once or twice before.’ 

‘Yeah. Okay, Essa. Ae's fucking annoying, would it hurt if I-’ 

‘Don't.’ 

‘Spoilsport, I wouldn't.’ Xe hates that xer tone is petulant. ‘Stop cofronting. I'm not gonna wreck the place, stop hovering like I'm a kid on a child leash.’ Essa leaves, and it's just Rosaline.

“Rosie?” Xer nose crinkles in disgust. Dear god, what has Essa been telling these people?

“Rosaline.” Xe turns the chair with a soft push on the ground. Fucking Essa and the spinny chairs.

“Okay. Do you want company?” No, but Rosaline can imagine the shitstorm if xe says it. How many ways can they make it obvious that they aren't interested in humans?

Xe runs their tongue over their teeth, feeling out where their fangs should be. “No, but sure.” Talking out loud is difficult and unnecessary. Nick’s lucky ae’s getting the monotone answers ae is.

Ae sits on the floor near their feet. Good, just where ae should be. ‘I fucking hate-’ Essa is disapproving. Fuck, are you really?

Rosaline was complaining about needing attention, so whatever. ‘I should be out more, I do wonders for our self esteem.’

“Essa says to be careful interacting with me.”

“Why?”

“I don't care about how I sound.”

“Isn't that good?”

“No.”

Silence again. Fucking asshole. Rosaline looks at their shoes. Dirty sneakers for a dirty god. Xe smiles again and hopes it scares aer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rosaline doesn't care for gender. Xe's a god, why would xe?
> 
> Nick only met xer in short increments where xe and Essa were cofronting but Essa took over mostly.
> 
> i changed my tumblr  
> its now autisticfriskk.tumblr.com


End file.
